Simply Indescribable
by Brightrain1151
Summary: Mikan from the country home, Natsume from the Luxury abode. When Mikan gets selected to attend the Alice Academy for the young elites of society, will an upcoming war unite the hearts or break them forever
1. Chapter 1

**Simply Indescribable**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN GAKUEN ALICE**

My room is coral and my bed is orange … orange…

Why is there not a single word that rhymes completely with orange, it's my favourite colour after all. Oh there are plenty of words that rhyme with black and grey, yet literature has forgotten to include something that rhymes with the very colour that has the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. I released my pen with a sigh of defeat, so much for trying to write a poem to cheer myself up.

Recently, I've been constantly locking myself in my room, trying to escape in my own way from the chaos of the outside world. Truth be told, I hated change, I hated when the grass was no longer green and when the sky was no longer azure. My mother, however, decided that my hatred could be forgotten and that I could simply waltz into a new school with a happy smile plastered on my face with my arms out all friendly and welcoming. It's hard to force yourself to forget everything and start afresh, trust me once my mother said it was a permanent move my heart literally shattered.

"Mikan? Where are you? We have to go now." My mother's muffled voice said from downstairs.

"Coming!" I shouted exasperatedly.

When we were both inside the car my mother turned to me andbrushed some stray locks of hair behind my ear. I knew she was trying her best to comfort me.

"Mikan, honey, we simply can't stay in the country. I've just been promoted and it's just too hard for me to travel there every day. And look on the bright side; we'll be able to see your father much more often." She cooed.

Truth was, I really loved my father. I actually really wanted to meet him more often. He was such a kindred spirit and could light up a room by his presence alone. Being able to be a family was definitely enough to encourage me to move to the city, yet I was too stubborn to admit it.

"Yes mum, it will be more convenient for YOU. What about me huh? Are you aware of what you're asking from me?" I replied in a scathing tone.

My mother sighed and started the car, for the rest of the journey we never spoke.

#**#

The first thing I was aware of was the noise; it was a horrible raucous noise, produced by a mixture of buses, trains, cars and the voiceovers on the huge advertisements. The smell came next, filling my nose with pungent petrol fumes. And when opened my eyes, all I saw were rows of neatly stacked skyscrapers, gigantic and intimidating. The sky wasn't blue, it was a dull shade of periwinkle, the clouds weren't white and fluffy like my favourite sweets, Howalons, but were a faint gray. This place wasn't like anything I've seen; it was so artificial, so strange.

"It's great Mikan, isn't it," my mum said breathlessly. "Don't you just love the City; it's so refreshing to be in."

I gaped at her;_ she couldn't be serious could she? This place was horrible, and my mum actually LIKED IT!_

Soon, we arrived at the academy; it was in one of the nicer parts of the city. Yet when I walked in, I found out that it was GIGANTIC! It was like a small town. The main building stared at me across the long walkway bordered by trees. All I could do was gasp at the grandeur of this place.

"You like it don't you." My mum grinned at me.

"Wow." It was all I could say.

"I've got everything settled for you, all the information you need is on this card." She handed me a white card with a gold star on top. "I'm sorry honey I have to go now, only students and teachers are allowed on the premises without a special pass."

She gave me a fleeting hug and a prompt goodbye before being led away by a man dressed in a most peculiar outfit with blond hair and aquamarine eyes.

I was led to my room by the peculiar blond person who I just discovered was the Vice principal and a teacher at the school.

"Now this school is big like you probably figured, so I suggest you make a couple of friends who know their way around. Ahh there we are, look Mikan it's your dorm." He said with a smile.

I looked around, and my eyes travelled to the thing he was pointing at. It was a door with a gold label that said "Hotaru Imai". _Is this man delusional? I had my name stuck to my shirt for heaven's sake._

"Umm… My name's Mikan Sakura. So where's my real dorm." I asked hesitantly.

"Oh didn't I tell you? You'll be sharing this dorm until your star rank has been decided." He replied casually.

"Who lives here? And why don't I have my OWN room and what the heck is a STAR RANK?" I demanded.

"Oh you'll find out soon enough. Adieu~" With that he went.

I reluctantly opened the door to the room of "Hotaru Imai". I was surprised to find that all the lights were on and a girl with raven black hair cropped short sat serenely in the middle of the room reading a magazine.

"H-hey, I'm Mikan Sakura. Umm… The Vice principal said I'll be living here for a while." I said.

She looked up from her magazine and I was faced with stunning violet eyes that pierced through me. Just that look made me somewhat uneasy, _why the look, did she want to kill me? _

"Sit." She said in a monotone.

Glad that she didn't seek to kill me, I sat opposite her on a fluffy purple beanbag. The living room was very well decorated indeed. With a purple couch and a pale violet coffee table, on it was a lamp, also purple. The place was quite fancy as well, with the cushions on the couch done in very intricate embroidery. If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that my roommate loved purple.

"First of all there are some rules." Hotaru said which caused me to flinch. "One, cleanliness is expected whenever you are present in this dorm. Two, you must get me to look at the clothes you've brought and three when I'm not here, please do not do any harm to my belongings and last of all I'm not your question box so whether or not I choose to answer your following questions is entirely up to me."

_How had she known I wanted to ask so many questions?_

"So fire away." She said.

#**#

Hey guys Brightrain1151 here. My first attempt plz R&R, constructive criticism is welcome. How was it?


	2. Chapter 2

**Simple Indescribable**

**Disclaimer: I simply don't own Gakuen Alice**

"Well, the star rank thing, please explain."

"There are four that could possibly apply to you right now. One star, Two star, Three star and Special Star. Actually you know what I'm feeling nice so I'll write it down for you."

"Thanks very much."

Hotaru handed me a paper which read:

**Star Ranks**

** One star:** Lowest you can get. For the delinquents who just manage to stay at this school. You get a small dorm and food is very basic. You're allowed next to no luxuries and around $15 dollars of allowance per week.

**Two Star or Double Star:** Quite a big difference from one star. Reserved for students who's intelligence is over average yet not outstanding. You get a sound dorm and the food is good. Your allowed phone calls to your parents three times a week. You get $50 dollars allowance per week. Also more than half the students are double star.

** Three star or Triple Star:** Reserved for the very intelligent and who's acknowledgement are fairly known in society. They must contribute a lot to this school and get very good results and rankings. You get a great dorm and the food is excellent. Phone calls are allowed five times a week. You get $100 dollars of allowance per week. By the way, I'm a triple.

**Special Star:** The highest rank and reserved for the elite of the elite. Geniuses and prodigies get this rank. Your contributions to the school will have to be very great and your achievements will have to be known nationally, if not internationally. You get the most luxurious dorm room and it is almost like a hotel. The food is the finest of the school. Phone calls are allowed anytime and if a special catches the principals attention, your allowed to visit your family once every week. This is a huge luxury. You also get $300 dollars of allowance per week.

"Is anyone a Special Star in 9th grade?" I enquired.

"Not in 9th grade, no. It's hard to get so famous when you haven't even reached sixteen. There are some in year 10 though." "Wow that's sweet, getting all those luxuries." I said dreamily.

"Wake up Mikan, your star rank right now is nothing. You have the living provisions of a one star." Hotaru said sternly. "Now show me the clothes you brought." She pointed to some bags in the corner of the living room.

"Wait Hotaru, what were you saying about it being a luxury to see your parents? I mean you have to don't you?"

"Alice Academy isn't your average school. You won't be able to meet you parents or relatives unless you get this privilege. This Academy is funded mainly by the government and it needs to stay in the shadows. I mean, one slip of the mouth and that could jeopardize all the plans the government had.

I gaped at her words, was the school this cruel? I could feel tears in my eyes. My mother lied to me, she said we would be one happy family with dad. Turns out i don't have much chance of seeing him after all.

"Do the parents get notified of this?"

"If they ask, yes."

I thought about that for a moment, so parent need to ask. That was quite a severe thing to do, i mean it was just a school.

"And one last thing, ca you rise in star ranks?"

"Of course are you retarded or something? If you become famous or get better grades than everyone else, your rank will get higher. Duh. Now your clothes please."

"Ok then, thanks." I said cheerily.

#**#

After hours of sifting through my clothes and my numerous books Hotaru decided that she was going to take me to central town tomorrow for a complete makeover. The sad thing was, she was very mysterious about this whole central town and well what can I say, I like things that are straightforward. So here I was seated with Hotaru and two other lovely girls I met on my way to the cafeteria. Their names were Anna and Nonoko. It became apparent to me that Anna was the more rowdy of the two and Nonoko well was the more quite and hard-working one. It also became apparent to me that one particular table was attracting some very special attention.

"It's always like this, might as well get used to it. Every lunch, the table where Natsume and Ruka sit is swarmed with fan girls. They're the most popular you can get. Natsume's sporty, handsome and very smart, so is Ruka."

When she said Ruka, Hotaru's head turned immediately to her.

"Blackmail…" she muttered.

I shrugged Hotaru's rather sinister comment and incredulously replied "Smart? Your telling me those pretty boys are smart!"

"You really don't this school do you?" Nonoko said knowingly. "Alice Academy is a school for the elites in any field: academics, sport, dance, music, art you name it. You have to be very smart to get into this school. Since you come from a country town, chances are you got selected because you attended the entrance exam and did the interview. People like Natsume and Ruka and Imai got in here because of their families as well as their prestigious achievements in most fields. Imai is especially good with technology and invention."

"Hotaru, an INVENTOR?"

"Oh and did Anna just say I was an actress, BAKA. Oh do you know what, I find this situation fitting to show you guys my newest invention." Hotaru said scathingly.

She drew a gun from her bag and pointed it at me. Being the scaredy-cat I was, I instantly panicked and jumped from my seat, cowering with fear.

BAKA! The gun "shouted" before sending a concentrated blast of pain on my face. "OW!" I screeched. "What was that Hotaru?"

She only smirked maliciously and returned to her deluxe seafood triple star meal. I looked at her in pure awe, _who the heck was this girl? Boy, she was scary._ _I mean inventions are fine, but are harmful one's like those even legal?_After i slowly recovered from the shock, and Anna and Nonoko stopped laughing (grr) I sat down with a scowl etched on my face. Suddenly, I sensed that a person was standing behind me. Lo and behold! It was Ruka, one of the "pretty boys". That was the first time I got a good look at his face. His eyes were a pale blue that contained the sky within its depth. His golden hair was brushed neatly and parted in the middle, his whole being radiated sunshine.

"Hey Hotaru." He said shyly in this voice that sounded so innocent and sweet. "How were your holidays?"

I went starry-eyes at his pure charm to which Hotaru replied in a bland monotone "They were good."

I frowned, how did someone like Hotaru get a Prince Charming like Ruka. Then, Ruka noticed that there were other people around him and smiled in my direction before saying a simple greeting and a welcome. My insides turned into warn honey. I didn't register anything else until he asked Hotaru softly:

"Hey, do you want to go to the library with me?"

"I don't see how that could bother me." Hotaru replied blandly. She stood up and the two walked away, the fan girls wanting to glare at them but were obviously too scared to. After all, that girl had a GUN in her bag.

"Since when?" I asked Anna and Nonoko.

"I dunno. They met in the first term and I think Ruka, well, courted her." Nonoko said.

"It stuns me you know, Hotaru blackmailed Ruka so much, but they're together. You know what they say, opposites attract." Anna said.

"Wow that stuff actually happens?" I gasped in wonder. "Anyways, tell me why Ruka and Natsume are so popular in a school of SMART people? I mean sure they're attractive and all that, but I think not all people are going to be entranced by their beauty alone."'

"Very true," Anna said. "But it's not just their "hotness", the three are very rich, or at least their families are. But again there's another catch, Natsume, Ruka and Imai are all children of some of the greatest business tycoons in our society today. Another two boys Koko and Tsubasa are also very rich but for some reason didn't come today. So some girls are instructed by their parents to try to get close to them so that their small companies can benefit from funding. Also, the two boys have great influence on the school, after all their family donate a lot to this institution. And there are also the in-betweeners who are the worst, human leeches if I can be so vulgar, oh look here comes two right now."

Just then a blond dressed in the shortest school skirt one can purchase and her school blouse "missing" three buttons and a girl dressed exactly the same with black hair that looked greenish under the light sashayed up to Natsume.

"Hey there Natsume-sama, had a nice holiday?" They said flirtatiously in unison.

Fortunately he didn't reply because he was too busy walking up… to… TO ME!

"Hello," He said in a deep, sexy voice that sent tingles down my spine. It wasn't like Ruka's sweet voice; it was one that screamed "sexy". I could feel my face get warm and when I looked to Anna and Nonoko, they were blushing furiously as well.

"Hey," I responded, trying to cover up my blush. "May I help you?"

"Hmm…" He thought out loud obviously not listening to what I was saying. "So you won an international writing contest as well as a violin competition, not bad."

"Why thank you," I said breathlessly.

"Not bad for the place you come from, it is the country after all." He finished with a smirk.

_What did he just say!_ My mind was suddenly very busily engaged in thinking of ways to completely humiliate him for saying that stuff about where I came from. Sure it was small and not many people knew about it, but it was so peaceful and so far removed from this city. Who was he to judge me on where I came from, just because he was the son of this ludicrously rich business tycoon doesn't mean I'm lower than him, poorer definitely but not lower.

"Excuse me? Just because I don't have a personal chauffeur or a huge pool in my backyard, doesn't mean I'm any lower than you, you pompous jerk. Gosh you're so arrogant it surprises me that your head is of normal size!" I shouted in his face. He was clearly very surprised, I knew that nobody, especially a girl had the gall to speak like that to him. Anna for instance, looked at me in utter awe and Nonoko had the eyes of a person who had just found a snake in her drawer. Yet I was extremely pissed, who was he to go around flaunting his money and status, we go to the same bloody school. But he soon composed himself and smirked at me, yes he didn't walk away defeated or angry he SMIRKED at me.

"Now you listen to me -" I started saying.

"Shut up! How could you say that to Natsume-sama! Who are you anyway! I haven't seen your face here before!" One of the fan-girls screeched. This was one of the leeches, the one with greenish hair and green eyes, the other one had fainted. Obviously the Queen Bee wasn't used to anyone saying that to her darling Natsume-sama either.

"Never mind who I am, this horrible person has just insulted me and I'm sure you'd do the same if you were spoken to like you were dirt!" I screeched back. With that, it seemed that the girl was too shocked to say anything else, and with her nose poised high in the air she left with a horde of fan girls sending death glares in my direction. The blonde on the floor was rescued by some boys who were incredibly eager to assist it seemed to me. My gaze shifted back to Natsume who was making his way back to his table and as if that was some type of signal, the cafeteria became noisy again. However, no it was completely occupied by males.

"So…" I said trying to break the ice between me and Anna and Nonoko. "What was all that about? Is he like the boss or something?"To my surprise they both burst out laughing.

"God Mikan you have some guts!" Anna exclaimed.

"Yeah nobody has said that stuff to him before!" Nonoko said with tears in her eyes.

"But seriously, who were the two leeches from before, the leaders of the fan girls?" I asked.

"You could say that, they are kind of the biggest "fans". The one with black hair is Sumire; the thing with Sumire is that she isn't all that bad. Her heart only beats for Natsume and she is very nice once you get to know her-"

"Well let's hope i don't because she seems like a wannabee to me"

"But her father is also pushing her to get close to him. Luna is also like that but she's more powerful I guess, some people call her Luna Medusa. Apparently, she has a glare that could freeze anyone within a 10 metre diameter." Anna continued.

"And why of all people did Natsume walk up to me?" Nonoko answered this time, "Well, he has a habit of "checking out" anyone who interests him. Gives them a type of initiation test, and your right he is similar to the boss. His father can easily suspend a student just by saying that they did not meet up to the school's academic levels. After all, he and the other rich kids provide most of the funding so they really are a valuable asset."

I nodded, placing the information carefully in my mind. So far today I had learned five things:

Hotaru was a dangerous person to be around.

This school is very strange and just like something out of a movie.

There are nice people, namely Anna and Nonoko and there are the mean ones who think they're better than anyone else, Luna, Sumire and Natsume.

I'll probably never see my parents again unless I get that special star ranking special attention, so my mother was a lying gnat.

_Oh well,_ I said after I snuggled into the soft purple pillow on my makeshift sofa bed that night. _If that's how life wants to play me, then so be it._

_**Hello Guys, how was this chapter?**  
_


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice is NOT MINE**

**Simply Indescribable**

"Hotaru, I don't really want to go shopping." I whined.

"No of course not, so we're going to do much more than that. You're going to get a haircut, a mani-pedi and most importantly a new clothes and accessories."

"Please?" I asked with my most adorable puppy dog eyes. Hotaru however seemed unmoved and simply caught me by the wrist and dragged me to the bus stop.

We rode the bus in silence, me smouldering in the dark pits of despair and Hotaru being her usual calm self, admiring the scenery. Anna and Nonoko were with us, and I recently found out that Hotaru and those two were part of a group called "The Three Geeky Sisters". I found the name quite off-putting but ignored the urge to say so because Hotaru brought along her trusty BAKA Gun.

We arrived at the long-awaited Central Town. It was a bustling place, yet lacked the properties which I would identify with the city. In fact, it seemed as if we hadn't even left school grounds.

"This is a shopping district exclusively built for the school. It has everything you need along with the luxuries you would buy from outside." Anna explained with a wink.

"Yeah all the Brand names are here, they're all in this huge shopping centre." Nonoko continued.

"Oh how convenient, we seem to be walking right to it." Hotaru finished and dragged me to the Shopping centre.

Boy, was I amazed by the sheer size of the structure. This was bigger than my school in the country! But then again if Alice Academy was the sun, my country school would have been a mere moon.

"By the way Hotaru, why do you want me to dress up so much?" I asked innocently.

Hotaru smiled, "If you want to be my friend, then you have to be presentable in society."

"But I am." I whined pointing to my clothes.

Sure they weren't spectacular, but they were decent. A simple red and blue plaid shirt with black sweatpants, I couldn't find anything wrong with it.

"Yeah, wear them in the dorms, there's nothing wrong with that. But outside, you could only wear that when the rest of the school has taken a detour in fashion."

I looked around, there were so many people, _AHH I've got to stop thinking that! I should get used to this chaotic environment, what was wrong with me! I've been a social chameleon all my life have I not?_ Anyway, all around me were people dressed in these expensive looking outfits with pricy accessories dangling from their neck, wrists and all of them had a flashy bag. Once again, the Mighty Hotaru had caught me off guard. I scowled and kept on walking in silence.

We reached the department store and suddenly a thought came to mind.

"Hey Anna," I said. "Yesterday you said something about an entrance exam, to get into the Academy."

Anna nodded.

"The thing is, I don't recall myself being in a room with hundreds of other people doing a test."

"That's because you're the only one who got in baka." Hotaru responded coldly.

"Yeah but the only things I've won were these writing and speaking competitions and the occasional music one. I haven't ever been handed a notice telling me to go here to do an entrance exam."

Hotaru rolled her eyes and started browsing the clothes in the Burberry store. Nonoko leaned in and whispered, "Mikan, all these competitions were set up by the school."

Next to her Anna nodded solemnly.

"Yeah, the writing ones, the speaking ones, the musical ones, you name it, the school made it." Anna said.

Nonoko continued, "The reason they don't hold an entrance exam is because it isn't discreet enough. They wanted to get the cream of the crop without having a nationwide exam. Spies and cheating would be a big problem."

"Spies? Cheating? Who would want to go to this school? Your basically cut from the outside world!"

"Alice Academy is a research institute. This school has a direct connection with the government. None of us are really sure why we have the connection and what it holds, but the ministers of Japan are all from this school." Hotaru, who had somehow walked 3 metres in 1 second whispered.

"But why children? Why not adults, I mean, adults would be smarter wouldn't they?"

"Baka, you're stuck in this school until you're an adult. You get training in all fields, think about it. If you are a genius as a child, wouldn't you be more so when you grow up? And anyway your careers are chosen by this school and your family gets funding from the government just because you attend it."

"That's horrible. That means if they were to hold a national exam, then parents would sell off their child to the school."

"Finally. Now try on all these clothes." Hotaru handed me a stack of dresses, shirts and skirts. "Show me after you try on one of them."

My eyes light up, "Hotaru, is this the only store we'll be visiting?"

Hotaru broke out in a snide laugh. "You wish, you wish. Now hurry up and try on these clothes." She pushed me into one of the cubicles.

I simply stood there, utterly crestfallen. Mentally I cursed myself, _Grr Hotaru, why must you be so cruel._

So one after the other I tried on the clothes. To tell the truth, I actually found it quite entertaining. It was, like playing dress-up but this time you weren't doing it for a grand ball, you were doing it for you "face in society" or as Hotaru said.

The pile of clothes gradually thinned and I left with a silk rose coloured dress that ended 3 inches above my knee, a black woollen jacket and a pair of blood red sandals.

I saw many glances my way, and also comments.

"Wow, she IS cute."

"Not bad for a newbie."

"Look at those legs."

The first comment made me blush but the last two was a bit insensitive and perverted, in fact it reminded me of a certain someone. An unpleasant teenage boy that goes by the name Natsume. I turned around, expecting to be face to face with a most hateful person. Only to be met with a goofy grin and lovely sea-green eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Koko's the name." He said extending a hand.

I blushed, he was quite attractive but didn't have the same type of aura as Natsume or Ruka, and he was goofy and friendly and comfortable to be around.

"Mikan Sakura." I said smiling.

"So you're the new student everyone's been talking about-"

_Wait what; did he say everyone was talking about me? Dammit I should have kept my big fat mouth shut that day when I had an argument with Natsume._

"-having the audacity to speak like that to Natsume. He himself was very surprised I hear." Koko said.

"Yeah well maybe he should be more SENSITIVE towards other people's feelings." I replied nastily.

"We'll be going now." Hotaru said sternly and with a wave of her hand, she dragged me towards the next store.

Anna and Nonoko were both chuckling, probably at my unbelievable antics.

"Mikan, there's another rule I'm going to add and you better write it down. Don't give me a bad image outside. I don't care what you do inside the dorms but as long as you don't do anything completely idiotic when with me, in public's eye I will be lenient. And is you do, remember I have a gun." She said threateningly.

I put my hand up in a salute and said nervously "Yes Ma'am!"

#**#

After another two hours of shopping, we decided to take a break, _finally._ All that shopping and trying on clothes drove me the point of utter fatigue. Yet with Anna and Nonoko, they seemed invigorated by the prospect of another shop brimming with different garments while the sight of them for me made my dizzy. Hotaru seemed to enjoy it as well but that was probably due to the fact that she could boss me around as much as she liked, after all she was saving me LOADS on shopping. Hotaru was the type to make people cry when the price exceeded her expectations. I was paying $30 for a pair of LEVI jeans!

As we sat, well for me it was more like slumped at one of the tables in McDonalds. After making some light conversation about the shopping spree Hotaru suddenly stood up.

"Hotaru where are you going?" I asked, looking in the direction she was walking.

Then seated at the table of Ruka, who was holding a rabbit and worry was deeply etched on his pale face. I stood up and walked towards them and Anna and Nonoko followed.

"Hey Ruka-pyon, what's wrong?"

_Ruka-pyon! What was I thinking! _I looked at him nervously, yet soon found out he was too preoccupied to care.

"Natsume's in hospital."

I frowned at the name but was suddenly overcome with concern myself, sure he was a snob, but this was quite serious. Anna and Nonoko made a gasping sound and sat down, their faces white as death. Hotaru was looking pretty shaken as well.

"But why?"

"He has minor second-degree burns."

I gasped and shakily sat down, _what did that boy do in his spare time? Play with fire?_

"Well, I read somewhere that minor second degree burns only take two weeks to heal." I said in a comforting voice.

"Ruka, he'll heal." Hotaru said soothingly.

Ruka only frowned and said, "I know the burn will heal but that's not what I'm REALLY worried about. The fact that he has gotten an injury and I'm sure he didn't injure himself intentionally is very troubling. And he has been acting weird lately, like he constantly gets called to the principal."

Anna spoke hesitantly, "Ruka, how long has this been happening."

"To Natsume only recently-"

"Wait, this has only begun recently and he's ALREADY obtained an injury?" I said confusedly.

"Do you know what he does?" Nonoko said quietly.

Ruka continued, "The thing is I don't know, whenever he disappears, he never tells me where he's going and afterwards he doesn't mention a word of what has happened. Whenever I ask, he always brushes it off; he is definitely hiding something from me."

Hotaru listened and absorbed every word. She pondered for a while and spoke, calm and collected.

"Ruka, I've heard of this stuff happening before. My brother at one stage was like that and disappeared for hours at a time without trace."

"Oh you mean Subaru. Apparently, he started attending this academy ever since fourth grade, that's the earliest you can enter the Academy." Anna said.

"That's right Anna and he, like Natsume refused to talk about it."

"But he's 5 years older than you, how did you know of this?" Nonoko asked.

"Yeah, didn't you say that no outside contact was allowed?" I said in confusion.

"That's true, but he was promoted to special star in our grade, that's the time when he started acting all strange. He was one of the top students and consequently was allowed to go home once every week. But for some reason, the visits had stopped after a year and we couldn't contact him. I myself only arrived this year and have yet to meet him."

Ruka suddenly piped up, "So you're saying that the Academy chooses these geniuses and makes them do all the dirty work for the Academy." Then he scowled and slammed the table with his fist. "I knew it! As a boy, Natsume always had an affinity with fire. He knew how to produce it anywhere, and knew how to utilise it in any way."

"This explains those burns he received!" I said triumphantly.

"My brother was a born doctor. He just had this instinct and passion to heal, yet with this passion came the ability to inflict pain." Hotaru said deep in thought.

" So you two are saying, that the sole purpose of this Academy is to train the young elites, so they can later 'Rule the World'. Oh, oh and while they were at it, they decided they could use their ability to work for the government." I said unbelievingly.

"I think that's the jist of the idea." Anna said.

"But for what?"

Hotaru looked up; it was as if she had a brainwave. "For War."

**Hey guys, did you like it? Please read and review!**

**From here on, it's going to become a bit more teen so for those who aren't read at your own risk. **

**The story is unfolding, what will they discover next. Read on to find out what happens when they viit Natsume in the Hospital. Thanks for reading **


	4. Chapter 4

**Simply Indescribable**

**I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry people, school is a little bit occupying but I haven't forgotten about this. I feel really rotten about posting this up with such a delay, but I've made it extra long. Thank you to all the people who read this fic and cheers to their patience.**

For a moment there was silence, everyone was so shocked. The background noises of the mall had become secondary, petty. This newly received information was like a punch in the stomach, a knock on the head, a sudden, sharp intense impact. Then the thoughts of "It can't be true" and "That's preposterous" floated into our minds.

"Shut up Hotaru." I said sternly. "You're getting us worked up."

"Then what else can it be smartarse?" she replied scathingly.

I hesitated, her hypothesis was definitely reasonable, but we just started school, if students in the older years had no obvious reaction to this, then surely unexperienced newies like us would definitely be wrong. "Look, whether or not this Academy is crazy and the heads of this place are run by descendants of Hitler, is really not important right now. I mean Natsume is in hospital, shouldn't we care more about what's happening right now? And also, who else can prove what you said?"

"Since when did you care so much about Natsume? Anyways, if we don't see the traps ahead, we would be standing in one and not knowing how we got there."

"Well, it's not completely fool-proof until we have more information, is it? After all, the seniors don't seem to care about it much, and we're only juniors." Nonoko said meekly.

"What you're saying is right, but think about it, why on earth would this school exist if it were not for war?" Hotaru replied.

"Well maybe it's really what it says in the profile. It's a school for highly gifted individuals that will become the future leaders of society."

"Bullcrap Mikan. As if it is. The former students only become leaders because this academy has a suspiciously close relationship with the government. And for the record, I lost a brother to this."

I closed my mouth, unable to argue further, Hotaru had triumphed. I shot her a dirty look and pretended to sip some coke.

Anna chose this moment to say, "Hey why don't we leave this for the moment. And –uh- actually eat the stuff we ordered. The food's getting stone cold."

We nodded and started eating, but my throat seemed unable to swallow and my brain was too preoccupied to command my throat to do so. Millions of questions raced through my head and my inner conscience was having a field day. I wished, wished what Hotaru said wasn't true, but it seemed too reasonable, too logical to be false.

Ruka cleared his throat and we immediately averted our eyes to him.

"Hey, who wants to go visit Natsume? We might find more about the academy."

The silence and tension loosened with that simple question. Anna and Nonoko both agreed instantly, and Hotaru with a little encouragement did so too. I however refused to give in.

"Mikan, come on, don't be a wet blanket. Join us." Ruka whined.

"It's alright, I-uh-have-uh-some stuff to do."

"Last time I checked Mikan." Hotaru said. "You were dancing for joy in my dorm when you very belatedly reported that you were new and therefore had no homework."

"That's great Mikan! Then you have no excuse to stay behind." Anna said cheekily.

I grimaced but gave in, reluctantly trudging behind the rest of the group, not desiring to meet Natsume at all.

I mean, I am usually very open to things, but when someone closes the door of acceptance, there's no way I'll be the sucker. Natsume was a jerk and even though I only talked to him once, I get this feeling that he not going to be a pleasant person to be with. I fail to understand why such a sweet and gentle boy like Ruka enjoys the company of that arrogant and insufferable person.

I shook my head. What was I thinking, it was very un-Mikan of me to be so negative and hate a person so much at first sight. What did grandpa always say? Every person deserves three chances: one because they may be influenced by a drug when you first meet them, two because they might still be affected by the drug they took last time and three because people should be nice to each other.

I wasn't sure if Natsume was influenced by a drug when I first met him but Grandpa was always one for laughs and sometimes you can't take him seriously.

Suddenly the green blur of trees had been replaced by a blinding white. White... We must have reached the hospital already. I didn't even realise where I was going! After we delegated Ruka the horrible task of waiting in line to speak to the receptionist, the rest of us discussed our newly discovered information. While most of us had doubts, some more severe than others, Hotaru was as stubborn as red wine on carpet about it.

"Look, can we not worry about it for a minute? I know you lost your brother to this, but surely by now Julian Assange would have posted it on wiki leaks or some annoying hacker would have found out." I proposed.

"Ignorance is bliss is it not Hotaru?" Nonoko said.

"You guys don't get it do you, it will be hard for anyone to hack into government files. A resident could be caught, an outsider might not be discovered as quickly but in the end they will be caught too. Think about it, the world is getting lazier each day, who on earth is bothered enough to risk their lives for a bunch of young brats like us?" Hotaru said.

"Well, some people. Like your guardians, parents and friends." Anna said softly.

"They haven't done anything yet have they?" Hotaru replied.

"What are you planning to do huh? We're 14 year olds who just moved into a new school and already there's talk about saving the world. We can't save the world, god I couldn't even save the brownies I made on my 11th birthday."

"Don't you think it's a little heavy, for you know, the holidays? We haven't even started school yet." Anna said.

"You're right, let's talk about how the weather is and bore ourselves to death before the school can kill us."

"Don't be so patronising Hotaru, and by the way is Ruka done yet, he's certainly taking his time."

"Oooh Hotaru, maybe he has his eye on the receptionist." Anna teased.

"The receptionist he's dealing with is a guy stupid. And I know him well enough to say that he is not gay."

We all shot amused looks at Hotaru, who looked so solemn in the face of something so hilarious.

"Alright, we can go up now." Ruka said.

There was a chorus of okay and a solo of "do we have to?"

"Oh, but there is one catch, only four people are allowed in at one time." He said sadly. Why is he sad, I thought, I for one was extremely happy.

"BOOYA! Does that mean I don't need to go? Oh thank you Jupiter!"

"No, you are with us. I convinced the receptionist to let us all go!" inducing a groan from me. "He said that we can all stay as long as nobody notices, but don't worry he's almost cured, the doctors only come when he presses the buzzer. Isn't it exciting?" He sounded so happy; I couldn't bear to ruin his mood. I guess he really wanted to show Natsume that Hotaru had friends. I mean with a cold and stoic attitude and a highly antisocial personality, it would take a lot of convincing for someone to believe that Hotaru was truly an eligible girlfriend.

"Alright, but you owe me an ice-cream now." I said, smiling.

"No problem, c'mon lets go, the visiting hours are finishing in an hour." Ruka said excitedly.

As we all ran up the stairs following him, I decided that visiting wasn't such a bad idea. I could treat it like an adventure, although one with lots of snakes and landslides.

We went into the room and on the clean white bed lay the illustrious Natsume Hyuuga. Although, I couldn't see his face, I could sense that there was a much softer, calmer aura about him, something so different to the attitude he usually displayed. It was actually... kinda cute.

"Err…Do we wake him up?" I whispered.

"Don't worry he will wake up. He doesn't sleep very often and even then very little." Ruka whispered back.

"Because that's good for your body." Anna said quietly.

"I believe the term for not being able to sleep a lot is insomnia, Anna." Hotaru said in an annoyingly superior tone.

**2 minutes later…**

"People, this is stupid, I feel like a pervert." I announced.

"Not much longer now…" Ruka said with a mysterious tone.

"Not much longer till what, the hospital closes?" Nonoko said.

Suddenly, the door opened. A ray of bright white light cascaded into the dim room. Was it a doctor? If it is, then there's an open window and someone's gonna have to use it.

"HOLA NATSUME!" screamed a high-pitched voice. Do doctors usually have high-pitched squeaky voices?

As if a bucket of icy water was thrown on his face, Natsume shot up on the bed.

"Oh Natsume darling you're awake." She cooed.

"No I'm not." He mumbled as he plopped down on the bed again.

"Oh, no need to be shy." She said in a sickly sweet voice.

"Hi Natsume." Ruka said happily.

Natsume propped himself up again.

"Hi Ruka, I see you've brought your friends, oh and your girlfriend, delighted as always." Natsume mumbled sleepily.

"Excuse me, do I hear sarcasm?" Hotaru said sternly.

"What are you guys doing here?" Luna interrupted angrily.

"We're visiting and by the way you're not allowed here, 5 people only." I said, annoyed.

"Well, Natsume likes me better, so leave, ALL OF YOU, except for Ruka of course." Luna said.

"How about no." Hotaru said coldly.

"We ain't leavin' besides we got here first." Anna said defensively.

"That's juvenile." Luna sneered and continued in a squeaky voice, mocking Anna. "We got here first."

"Be quiet people." Natsume said, annoyed.

"See you guys are annoying him." Luna scoffed.

I opened my mouth to retort when I realised it was probably not worth the effort, I mean I didn't even like Natsume that much, why was I defending my place in his hospital room. I came here unwillingly after all. Without further ado, I picked up my bags and walked out the door. Better to leave and succumb to defeat than stay and endure an hour of Luna and Natsume. Anna, Nonoko and Hotaru seemed to have the same idea and left promptly after I did. This left only Ruka to bear an hour of cooing, flirting and disgusting behaviour. Boy, did I feel sorry for him.

_**Later in Hotaru's dorm...**_

"Anna, your cooking smells absolutely fab!" I shouted.

"Thanks Mikan, I cooked a lot at home and this school has everything!"

"Yeah, the market's pretty big isn't it? And just to double check, I'm having the chicken and mushroom pie." I said.

"Caesar salad's mine." Nonoko announced.

"Udon for me tonight." Hotaru stated.

"So I get the spag bol, perfect!" Anna said as she put the finishing touched on her dishes.

As she lay the dinner in front of us, I felt like the kid at the sweetshop, bristling with anticipation and awe. I never knew pies could look so pretty. To me they were always doughy at the bottom, crispy at the top and filled with some suspicious meat mince that contained who knew what. Pies where always fast food to me, a perfect fire blanket for raging hunger, certainly not something that I would make at home. I took a bite and the savoury taste exploded in my mouth. This was pie, but never as I knew it.

"WOW ANNA, this is absolutely delicious!" I exclaimed. And the rest of the table nodded in agreement.

Anna blushed before saying happily, "Thanks guys, I only learnt how to cook because the food my parents cooked was always inedible. So we started a routine, they bought the stuff I told to buy and I cooked."

"Well, I'm glad you're so good at cooking, no matter how you became to be so." I praised.

"Here, here!" the others chanted.

After we finished the delicious meal, we all helped wash up and Anna and Nonoko returned to their dorm. It was only 9 o' clock but I needed to sleep, all the excitement from the day had transformed into exhaustion. I bid Hotaru good night before stumbling to my makeshift bed and fell asleep instantly.

_**The Next Morning**_

Bright sunlight seeped into the dorm from the small cracks in the blinds. In the distance I could hear the familiar twittering of birds and the more foreign rumble of machinery. I slowly heaved myself up and went into the bathroom. The clock said it was only 5:30. My first instinct was to go back to sleep, but I realised we had school today. It was my first day of school and the beginning of Hotaru's 2nd term. I sluggishly stripped out of yesterday's clothes and jumped into the shower. I randomly punched some buttons and was greeted with jets of alternating warm and icy cold water. I jumped up and down before rubbing my eyes and turning the showerhead off immediately. I looked at the "control panel" of the shower. Oh... God... Technology... I carefully adjusted the settings so I could have a normal warm shower infused the fragrance of tangerines. I looked at shampoo section and after much consideration, settled on a mango scented deep clean one. Then came the soaps. Should I get the classic moisturising one, or should opt for one of the fancy soaps that I never tried before. All in all, I spent around half an hour in the shower, longer than I've ever been and emerged smelling like a mango eating a lychee in an orange grove. It was probably due to the lengthy amount of time I took, but I felt so much cleaner than I would have after a shower at home. Where I used to live, we had no fancy machinery in the bathroom. It was the basic hot and cold mixer with shampoos and soaps on a separate rack.

After drying my hair, I walked out of the bathroom, feeling wonderful. I saw that Hotaru had already changed into her clothes; she must have had a shower at night.

"Good morning Hotaru." I said cheerfully.

"Good morning." She replied while shoving some books in her bag. "How was last night, I see you enjoyed the showers, definitely took your time."

"Yeah the showers are great aren't they; I never knew you could have so many options for shampoo alone. Where I used to live, there was no fancy stuff in the shower."

She smiled and chucked some more books into her bag.

"What are you going to wear to class Mikan? You can't go in a bathrobe you know, we're having Jinno first, and he's a bitch about appropriate apparel."

"Um... I'll probably just throw on a t-shirt and some sweats. We don't have to dress that properly do we? I mean you're not wearing a white button-up blouse are you?"

"But t-shirt and sweats are too casual. Why don't you wear the things we bought yesterday?"

"Sure! I haven't tried them on yet but class starts at 8:30 and it's only... 6:15 now, AWESOME we've got plenty of time!"

After almost an hour of trying on things and abandoning them and then trying them on again when they looked like they'll match, Hotaru finally settled on an outfit. It was a red and blue country-style plaid blouse with skinny jeans and a pair of beautiful black sneakers that she lent me.

"You look beautiful." Hotaru said admiring her handiwork.

I blushed slightly and shot a flirty comment at her which made us both dissolve into endless laughter.

I packed my bag and we headed down into the cafeteria, I surprised to find it already packed with people. In my old school, the cafeteria was only packed during lunch because that was when we had the choice of starving or eating whatever was put in front of you. No one was bothered enough to wake up that early, and although the school did provide breakfast it only started at about 8 o' clock.

"First day of classes, most likely nerves or catching up with the friend that went overseas." Hotaru said as if she had read my mind.

"Oh... Hey look its Anna and Nonoko!" I said as I waved at the two.

Hotaru and I walked up to the table they were seated at and exchanged cheerful greetings.

"Aren't you excited Mikan?" Anna asked.

"More nervous than excited." I replied

"Why are you nervous? We've all been to new schools before and in this one you actually have friends before you start classes. Doesn't that take the pressure off?" she said.

"Yeah, but I mean this school is filled with smart kids. I just worry... That I can't keep up. Everyone seems like a genius."

"You are too Mikan, If you weren't you wouldn't be here in the first place."

"That's true but really I'm not that smart."

Hotaru rolled her eyes and said sternly, "You are smart; Mikan and I doubt you would have any trouble here. In essence Alice Academy is just another school. By the way, I'm hungry, let's order some stuff."

"Did someone say food?" Ruka said silkily as he sauntered up.

"No one did, but I implied it." Hotaru said plainly as she slowly flicked through the menu.

"Hi Ruka." The rest of us chorused.

"Hey guys, oh Mikan it's your first day here isn't it, you must be-"

"I'd like the blueberry bagel, thanks." Hotaru interjected.

"Oh Hotaru, that wasn't very nice." I said.

Ruka pouted and said playfully, "Yeah Hotaru your always such a meanie."

Hotaru rolled her eyes and said softly, "But you know you still love me."

"Oooooh, you are SO whipped Ruka." Anna said.

He blushed sheepishly and then muttered something about croissants.

After we ordered our food, everyone tried to give me tips about first days at Alice academy.

"You're kinda unlucky, getting Jinno first-"

"-Yeah he's a bitch-"

"-But Narumi's nice; we get him in the third period-"

"-He's gay though-"

"-And dramatic as hell-"

I could only nod and somehow assimilate all the information people were throwing at me. After they finished about how I should never bring purple hair bands into Jinno's classes I nodded one last time and out ordered food arrived on the table. I was prepared for my first day, better than I have ever been, and as I licked the last bits of oatmeal from my spoon I basked in the happiness of having friends like these. Anna was right, not having to endure the awkward first conversations with classmates really took the pressure off.

**Thank you guys again for your patience.**


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